“They are funding the political project of radical politician Armaz Akhvlediani in order to brainwash people with their ideological and political views. When you fund a political project led by such a politician, this is direct political funding, and it must be determined whether it had the necessary approval,” Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said regarding the Tbilisi School of Political Studies, which is headed by Armaz Akhvlediani and whose events are carried out with financial support from the Council of Europe.

Papuashvili also said today that he himself participated in a seminar organized by the Tbilisi School of Political Studies years ago, in 2007, although he added that “the situation and circumstances were different 19 years ago, and those circumstances have changed.”

Papuashvili repeatedly emphasized that government approval is required for funding the project and that the Council of Europe has to provide an answer on the matter. According to him, “there is a suspicion that a political project is being funded by circumventing the Georgian people and its laws.”

“This is a project and seminar with an absolutely political character. Incidentally, I also attended such seminars years ago, and of course, this is a political project. Since it is a political project, the question arises: who is funding it? The Council of Europe is funding it — I do not know whether alone or together with others — and if it is funding it, then it must have government approval.

“This is a direct political project headed by Armaz Akhvlediani, who entered the previous parliament on the ticket of the United National Movement. He is a radical politician, and they are funding a radical politician’s political project in order to then brainwash people with their ideological and political views.

“Armaz Akhvlediani was in the previous parliament on the United National Movement’s ticket. The United National Movement is an anti-constitutional party, whose goals are clear, and it has repeatedly attempted to seize power through undemocratic means. When you fund a political project led by such a politician, this is direct political funding, and it must be determined whether approval was obtained.

“Presumably, there are two possible scenarios. One is that a grant was given to Armaz Akhvlediani’s organization, which required the relevant approval, and no approval was obtained, which would constitute a violation of the law. The second is that an arrangement may have been devised to circumvent the law in order to avoid sanctions, which would also constitute a violation of the law. The Council of Europe’s representation must respond to this serious allegation. There is a suspicion that a political project is being funded by circumventing the Georgian people and their laws.

“If you are interested in my history, which Mr. Armaz knows very well, I attended an event organized by this project in 2007, when the events of November 7 took place. Everyone remembers very well how, after November 7, the experts brought by Mr. Armaz — including some who are now in NGOs and lecture us on what to do — defended the United National Movement and Mikheil Saakashvili’s government, and what I told them there. Even then, it was ideological. At that time, it was perfectly clear what the positions of the so-called experts and speakers were following the events of November 7,” Papuashvili said.

When a journalist asked why he had participated in the Tbilisi School of Political Studies project at the time if he considered it so problematic, Papuashvili said that “government representatives were also among the participants, and there was an opportunity to say what some people wanted to gloss over.”